The bill supporting easy availability of narcotic drugs - Boon or a Bane?

The bill supporting easy availability of narcotic drugs is a boon or a bane?

In February Indian Parliament passed the much awaited and important Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2011, which will make morphine, a strong painkiller easily available. The bill has simplified the regulations for procuring and possessing narcotic drugs when used for medicinal purposes. No doubt the step taken is to benefit the medical industry but is it worth taking the risk?

Boon

• India has at least one million people with moderate to severe cancer pain. The amendment in bill is a relief to these patients as they don’t have to suffer from excruciating pain anymore.

• The effective pain medications will now be available at cheaper rates. It is a relief to the cancer patients as well the people suffering from pain of operations.

• The central government will have the authority to regulate the narcotic drugs.

• Before the amendments. It was compulsory for the hospitals and pharmacies to obtain four or five different licenses from several government agencies to be allowed to purchase morphine. But now they require a single license for the procurement of morphine and other strong opioid medications.

• India produces 90 percent of morphine in the world and with the passage of this bill the availability of the drug would go up by 40 per cent.

• Now when the process of procuring and possessing the narcotic drugs is simplified, many hospitals, including major cancer institutions, can stock it which was not possible before. Institutional procurement methods have become easy.

• It will eliminate the high cost morphine available by different delivery route like transdermal route. It will stop the blackmailing of the high cost medicines by the retailers.

Bane

• Narcotic drugs are used to heal the pain arising out of the cancer or other severe diseases. But again it is a kind of opium which has addictive property and can affect the user rational decision making process. Easy availability will make it tough for the users to disseminate themselves from drug taking.

• It will not only result in easy procurement methods for institutions but will also lead the ways for easy domestic procurement affecting the health of other people.

• It is not wise to involve a state in the distribution of substances that have the potential to harm the local people.

• Children don’t understand the difference between medicinal drugs and the other drugs. The easy availability can encourage them to try the narcotic drugs which in case is not beneficial for the society.

Conclusion

Narcotic drugs is an essential requirement for the treatment of strong pain from cancer and other illnesses and no doubt the people suffering from diseases and the medical institutions need the drugs but no one should forget that because it is legal doesn’t mean it becomes safer for everyone’s use.